As a newcomer to the Corleone family Diane Keaton’s Kay Adams is the closest “The Godfather” comes to having an audience surrogate. The role is a deceptively simple one; Kay is a fish out of water, and she lacks the earthy mystique of Michael’s first wife, Apollonia. Yet it is an arresting shot of Keaton’s face that closes the chapter on “The Godfather” and cements Michael’s criminal ascendance.
Fifty years after the film’s release, Keaton took to Instagram Stories to ask Coppola, “Why on Earth did you choose me for the Godfather?!” (via X). The director replied, “I chose you, because although you were to play the more straight/vanilla wife, there was something about you, deeper, funnier, and very interesting. (I was right).”
Prior to “The Godfather,” Keaton was primarily known for her stage work, including a role in the original 1968 production of “Hair.” That, too, played a part in Coppola’s casting decision. “I was invited by Fred Astaire to accompany him to see ‘Hair’ which he couldn’t make ‘hide nor hair’ out of,” Coppola continued. “You were in it, and I remember your beautiful singing voice.”
Like her co-stars, Keaton’s career took off after “The Godfather,” and that decade became defined by her collaborations with Woody Allen, including 1977’s “Annie Hall.” Beginning in the ’80s, she became a muse to Nancy Meyers. Other notable roles include “Reds,” “Marvin’s Room,” and “The Family Stone.”
At 78, Keaton is showing no signs of slowing. She’ll appear next in “Arthur’s Whisky” and the upcoming comedy “Summer Camp.”
